I can only get it to show one full page at a time. By hitting the button at the top that looks like a list I can show six little pages at the bottom for easier navigation.

But what about the third kitty? Won't he be lonely?

Kuhn Rikon Whisk Le Creuset silicone handle sleeve Animalium I have 18 wish lists... and a *slight* Amazon addiction :)

We recently made Koshary during our study of Egypt. Delicious! http://allrecipes.com/recipe/egyptian-koshary/

Who's going to tackle my handsome son?

Dance Moms--How do you feel about Sweet Potatoes for 23 people?

This is the title of a spam post over on the Accelerated Learner forum. It is too tempting to comment, so the thread keeps getting bumped. Feel free to continue the discussion here!

We do the Letter of the Week curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler with our 2yo and he loves it. You can download most of it for free from her blog, but it takes time to find and download each thing individually. After a few weeks of that, knowing ds enjoyed the activities, I paid the $15 for everything in one download. Well worth it. http://store.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=70_71 His favourite is to put stickers on a page with the letter that week. He also likes the 2-piece puzzles, bingo-dot pages, colouring pages, size sorts and spelling disks. He definitely needs one on one help doing much of this, but the stickers and colouring he can do in his highchair while his brother is doing school. This week for letter L he did a craft where he glued wings on a ladybug body and then some spots and created a cute art project. He would not have been ready for this when we started, but we just skip any activities that are beyond his level.

I do have the Implememtation Manual for level 1. I have never owned a paper copy of the MCT books, so it is hard to compare them directly. It does have a chapter for each book: 15 pages for Grammar Island, 16 pages for Building Language, 6 pages for Practice Island, 40 pages for Sentence Island, and 27 pages for Music of the Hemispheres. I think I heard before that the Grammar teacher and student books were almost the same except the teacher book had extra sentences on some pages. (I seem to recall some people only bought the teacher book and then used sticky notes to cover all the teacher notes.) In the Inplememtation Manual there are three pages for Grammar Island that list page numbers and notes for those pages. For instance, "Page 6. Remind students that sentences do not occur in nature. Language comes from us; it is ourselves, in words." There are 25 notes like this listed for Grammar Island. In addition, the Grammar Island section has two games (which apply more to a classroom), a page on emphasizing patterns, a page outlining the key to explaining the four levels of grammar, a page on techniques for applying four level analysis, and then 40 extra sentences for analysis (just the sentences, not answers). Building Language is similar: it gives a list of page numbers with notes, several pages directed towards the parent/teacher, and a list of roots and definitions. The Practice Island section is short and mostly describes how to use the ibook since it is interactive. Sentence Island contains a list of page numbers with notes again as well as six chapters about Mud: Mud's Two Sides, Mud Thinks about Doing and Being, Mud Learns to Agree, Putting Mud in Place, Mud Gets Deep, Mud Hears Sentences. Music of the Hemispheres lists page numbers and notes as in the previous sections, gives several pages of explanation to the teacher/parent, and gives an example poem for different topics (eg. Rhyme, Meter, etc.) with a list of things to discuss for each one. Many of the books also contain pre and post tests, and those answers are listed in the Implementaion Manual. Hopefully you can compare this to the paper Teachers Guides you have for level 1. I would be interested to know how similar the iBook manual is to the guides. I have read through the whole Implementation Manual and am really looking forward to starting MCT Island next year. It is so tempting to start now! It looks like an excellent program and I know ds will love it.

I've started buying these iBooks now and I'm really pleased. The student completes the work directly in the ibook, sometimes by typing but often by dragging words around. I really like how interactive it is. I plan to get the full island level as iBooks for this coming year and not bother with paper copies.

:grouphug:

You might want to read the book "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth" by Chris Hadfield (a Canadian astronaut). In the book he discusses the steps he took, starting as a child, to become an astronaut. It's interesting to see the path he took, his dedication, and also the luck involved. I don't remember anything in the book that would be unsuitable for a 12yo, but I didn't read it with that in mind, so you might want to read it yourself before sharing it with him.

King of Tokyo!!! It has monsters, you can obtain cards to mess up your opponents, you get to roll a whole handful of dice, and it can be done in 30 mins unless you have my BIL playing. It has been ds' favourite game for a whole year now and we own several of the games you listed (Takenoko, Carcassone, Ticket to Ride, Scotland Yard, Labyrinth, Forbidden Island, Dominion, 7 Wonders, and many more...).

I actually had assumed it would be impossible, but maybe nowadays with the internet it wouldn't be. The letter did not have a return address, just a postmark.

While we're all sitting around waiting I'll tell a little story to pass the time. It is a true story that I have been thinking about since the thread started. I don't think this is the explanation for the OP's friend's no-show, but her situation has reminded me of my past and a need for some closure. I hope the OP gets some answers tonight and that a series of misunderstandings or minor events can explain missing their event and not communicating. (sorry in advance for the brief thread detour below) When I was in high school I had a best friend in my grade. We did everything together and were very close. After we had been close friends for several months she told me her deepest secret and told me not to tell. She and her mother were in hiding from her father. She said that one day he would find them again, just like last time, and they would suddenly have to pack up and leave. She didn't want to leave but knew it was inevitable. As a fairly sheltered teenager I didn't really know how to process this. Deep down I don't think I really believed her, although I would have never let her know that. One day she didn't show up at school. I couldn't reach her on the weekend. She didn't come to school the next week. And then I realized she meant it. I was also the only one who had any idea of what had happened. I never let on, and after a while classmates stopped mentioning her. (I have no idea what the school knew. They wouldn't discuss it.) About three months later I received a brief letter from my friend. He found them, they got out in time, and they were now safe. Despite the distance and the fact that we could probably never communicate again, we would remain best friends. The letter was mailed from a country on the other side of the world. I was clearing some boxes out of storage a month or two ago and came across the letter. I hadn't thought of her in years. I told my dh the story and as much as I could remember about her. I now wonder what happened in her life, if her dad ever located them, if her mother maybe got arrested for kidnapping her. If she became close friends with someone again only to have to leave without saying goodbye. I'll never know. Instead, I can picture what I would like to have happened. I hope she has had a happy life, has become the author she aspired to be, and is safe.

I think they won't be there tonight. But I hope I'm wrong.

Congratulations!! I was part of a Model UN many years ago. It was a wonderful experience and made a lasting impression on me. It sounds like it will for your ds too.

This is crazy! There is no way you should be asked to bring hot dogs. I think you should talk to the teacher again, explaining that you simply cannot bring meat-based hot dogs. Not only does your family not eat meat, it is an ethical issue for you (not just that you don't like meat). Let her know that you will happily bring veggie dogs but are worried some children will be disappointed. Hopefully she will switch you with someone else, but if she doesn't, bring veggie dogs!

:grouphug: I'm so sorry :(

What if she isn't there tomorrow?

We broke Ancients into two years for grades 1 and 2. Then we will do Middle Ages for 3, Early Modern for 4, Canadian history and World Geography for 5, Modern Times for 6. I really liked doing Ancients at half pace for grade 1. It gave us time to be able to do 3-4 weeks of history and then 2 weeks of FIAR. Ds liked the break in routine so every week wasn't the same, and it gave us a chance to have more time to enjoy both historical fiction and books not tied to our history topics.

We read poems 3-5 days a week, usually while eating breakfast. At the beginning we did poetry tea, but I found it too much work/time, which gave me an excuse to not do it every week. I realized ds LOVED poetry and if we skipped the tea we could do it all the time. We still sometimes do poetry tea, usually with guests included, but it is in addition to all the poetry we read most days. Originally I had to fake an interest in poetry as I had less than stellar experiences of poetry memorization and dissection from high school. I soon realized how much ds enjoyed hearing and reading poems, and then realized I did too! We have somewhat of an addiction to acquiring poetry books and have 15 or so which we keep handy on the kitchen shelf. Ds chooses which book(s) he wants each day and selects his own poems to read aloud. We alternate reading our selections and occasionally discuss something about the poem, but nothing planned and no memorizing (although ds has memorized a few just by repeated reading). The whole experience is relaxed and enjoyable, and even our 2yo participates by choosing his favourites for me to read. We incorporate Shakespeare by having a book of Shakespeare's poetry in the mix: http://www.amazon.com/Under-Greenwood-Tree-Shakespeare-People/dp/0880450290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427729662&sr=8-1&keywords=shakespeare+under+the+greenwood+tree+Barbara (The paperback is beautifully illustrated, I assume the Kindle one listed is not related.)

:grouphug: Many hugs :grouphug:

I think it was around $80, but that is in Canada so it would likely be even cheaper if you are in the USA. It was just the glass that needed replacing as it still worked and displayed properly. I felt sick about mine too, but it was a freak accident and I felt better as soon as I got it back all fixed.

I was able to get my iPad screen replaced at less than half that price by taking it to a local computer repair shop. I was convinced it would not be good quality because it was not an authorized apple repair, but it has been a year and it still works/looks just fine. Phone a few local stores and see if they repair cracked ipad screens, or Google your city and "iPad screen". I have seen groupons for screen repairs sometimes too.